Volatile markets end in the positive

Markets ended a volatile session of trade in the positive territory ahead of February derivative contracts expiry tomorrow. This was the third consecutive session of gains.

The expiry is scheduled on a Wednesday as the markets will be closed on Thursday due to Mahashivratri.

For the day, the Nifty swung within a narrow range of 40 points through the day with the benchmark indices slipping into the red briefly in intra-day trades.

The recovery from day lows was aided by the upmove in IT heavyweights, ITC and HDFC counters.

At close, the 30-share Sensex was up 41 points at 20,852 and the Nifty added 14 points to close at 6,200.

In the broader markets, the smallcap index eked out marginal gains in the last hour of trade and close 0.1% higher while the midcap index outperformed with a 0.3% uptick as compared to the 0.2% gains seen on the BSE benchmark index.

Rupee

The rupee is at 61.95 versus its close of 62.07/08 on Monday, tracking gains in other Asian currencies versus the dollar. Traders will continue to monitor foreign fund flows for direction.

The pair is expected to hold in a 61.80 to 62.20 range during the session with importers expected to step in to buy dollars below the 62 mark.

Sectors and Stocks

On the sectoral front, Metal index down 1.7% was the top loser along with Power, Oil & Gas and Bankex indices losing 0.1-0.4%.

Among the gainers were Consumer Durables indices up nearly 3% followed by Auto, IT, Teck, FMCG, Health Care and Capital Goods adding 0.3-0.9%.

Metal names like Sesa Sterlite, Coal India and Tata Steel down 2% each were top losers among Sensex-30.

Tata Power, Gail India, NTPC, Dr Reddys Lab and ICICI Bank down 0.5-2% were the other prominent losers for the day.

Index heavyweights like Relaince Industries and SBI were down 0.2% each.

IT majors like Wipro, TCS and Infosys up 0.5-3% were among the top gainers.

Bajaj Auto, BHEL, Cipla, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, ITC and L&T up 0.6-2% were the major gainers.

The market breadth was marginally negative on the BSE. 1342 stocks declined while 1316 stocks advanced.

Smart Moves

Aarti Industries surged 8.4% to Rs 103, also its record high on BSE in noon deals, on back if heavy volumes. The stock opened at Rs 95 and has seen huge trading activity on the counter.

Aurobindo Pharma surged 7% to Rs 517 on back of heavy volumes on the bourses.

Ambuja Cements moved higher by 2.5% at Rs 164 after the company announced the resumption of mining operations at Himachal Pradesh plants after the High Court of Himachal Pradesh has granted a stay on order issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forest.

Kinetic Engineering was locked in 5% upper circuit at Rs 35.20 on the Bombay Stock Exchange after it sold its entire stake of 10.3 per cent in Mahindra Two Wheelers for Rs 182 crore to private equity investment group Samena Capital.

Gujarat Gas Company rallied 6% to Rs 235 after its board approved the consolidation of city gas distribution business.

Global Markets

Asian share markets regained some altitude on Tuesday courtesy of a tailwind from Wall Street which sped to historic highs amid more mergers buzz, while gold consolidated its recent rally.

The upbeat mood among investors in the United States and Europe at least helped steady markets in China after talk of credit tightening knocked property shares.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.5%, while Seoul gained 0.7%. Australia's market briefly hit its highest since mid-2008 on a run of solid earnings reports.

Japan's Nikkei bolted ahead by 1.4% to breach the 15,000 barrier, which in turn gave the U.S. dollar a slight lift on the yen.